Home-ice bounce

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff warned goaltender Ryan Miller Friday morning to beware of the lively end boards at Prudential Center because they could produce a scoring chance on the rebound of wide shots. That's exactly what happened on defenseman Mike Mottau's tying goal with 6:23 left in regulation of the Devils' 2-1 shootout victory tonight.

Miller came out a little to challenge Colin White's slap shot from the left point, which went wide left. The puck hit the end boards and caromed out to Mottau, who had jumped up from the point into the right circle. With Miller still out of position, Mottau quickly backhanded the puck toward the net and it went in off the stick of Buffalo's Adam Mair.

The only question was whether White fired wide on purpose.

Miller, Ruff and Devils coach Brent Sutter thought he did.

"White's a smart player," Miller said. "It seems to me he did it on purpose, knowing he didn't have a Grade A chance."

"A lot of times you have to get shots by two or three guys," Sutter said. "White recognized that. He wasn't trying to hit the net there, He was trying to bounce it off the boards."

White insisted otherwise. "I was shooting for the short side," he said. "If I could do that..."

Still, Mottau said the Devils have talked about the lively bounces off the end boards and was looking for one after he passed across to White for the initial shot. That's why he jumped past Buffalo's Mike Ryan and into the rigth circle. Mottau said it wasn't quite a set play, though.

"It's not so much a set play, but we were talking about getting pucks through and even though we wouldn't get it on net, if you shoot it near side, rebounds, shin pads and end boards come into play," Mottau said. "We were down a goal and looking to produce a little more offense, so it's kind of a read and react sort of thing."

Perhaps this was the first example of the Devils getting to know their new arena and using its nuances to their advantage. By the way, tonight's sellout was the Devils' third of the season.

Other notable items:

**The Devils improved to 2-1 in shootouts this season and are 2-0 in the tiebreakers at The Rock.

**The Devils have not scored in the first two periods of their last four games, but won the last three.

**Sutter revealed that Martin Brodeur had a touch of the flu over Christmas. He still was healthy enough to make 26 saves and stop all three Sabres in the shootout. Sutter said Brodeur will start his eighth game in a row tomorrow night against the Islanders.

**The Devils are 0-for-17 on the power play over the last four games, but have killed off all 19 power plays they've faced over that span, including four tonight. The biggest was on John Madden's delay of game minor with 59.4 seconds left in regulation.

Comments

[Danofan355]

I had a great time at the game tonight from section 121. Glad they got another win. Go Devils!

[Dan]

the Mottau goal was nice.......Martin also gave a solid forecheck own low left at one point.........we've gotten a few goals out of 'pinches' recently.

great to see.

[Adam]

The Rock rocks! Was so amazed to catch my first game there from 106. Can't wait to see the boys down in NC on the 10th.

Like what I'm seeing from Zubrus and Elias right now (that whole line really), among many others (including the way the D has jumped up lately). TG did you vote for Miller #1 tonight? Just curious if you did and your thoughts. I thought he stood on his head, but to me you gotta put two up to grab #1. Maybe that's too much homerism, but I'd like to think I'd feel that way if the situations were reversed. I'm sure you'll be in Raleigh. Buy you a pint after the game to say thanks for this amazing blog if you're game . . .

[Mike]

with Dipietro injured, and possibly not playing tonight, and Marty recovering from the flu, it sure seemed to be a good opportunity for Weekes to play tonight ? Tom, any idea when we'll see Kevin between the pipes again ?

[prokat]

Last night's game was a great display of why Mottau has become so valuable to the Devils this season. From my observation he is a really smart player and this team has a lot of smart players but...Somehow, someplace, somewhere Lou has to find a forward that can score by either a trade or a European signing or we'll be living with another year of 'without Marty where would we be?'
Defense wins in the playoffs but in the regular season the forwards need to pick up the pace a notch or two and not just score in OT or in a shootout. Living too close to the edge will eventually bring another dreaded losing streak to damage the psyche of this 'on the edge' team.
The Devils need to beat the Islanders tonight and the Rangers in their next meeting. You can't go through the regular season and do an '0'fer with two chief rivals in your division.
Happy New Year!

[TG]

Well, Brodeur clearly was feeling fine last night, so there's no reason not to play him tonight with three more off days coming up afterward. Sutter rarely gives any hints about his goaltending plans, but I'd guess that with three games in four night coming up beginning with Wednesday's against Florida, there might be a window for Weekes to play in there. Perhaps the Saturday game in Boston because Brodeur will want to play against Philadelphia.

Oh, and I don't vote for the three stars, but I have no problem Miller as the No. 1 star. He did make 34 saves, stopped a penalty shot and kept his team in it early. And those votes are collected before the end of the game, so the outcome of the shootout didn't affect it.

[Adam]

Point well taken, TG. That makes a lot more sense now. Great work as always!

[Alzheimers]

It's pretty ironic, the thought that ran through my head as White took the shot and missed was that our defensemen were completely useless on the offense. I'm glad Mottau proved me wrong, for now at least.

If it wasn't a set play, it really should be. ESPECIALLY ON THE POWER PLAY. Sutter's got to find a way to get the d-line more into the offense. Without the fear of a blast from the blue line to draw the defenders high, the forecheck down low is getting beaten to the puck on almost every shift. Clarkson (and last night, Asham) have been the only guys who have been able to plow their way to the net, but neither have resulted in a goal in the past few.

[Bill]

Hey Tom, any news on the ice conditions? Last night it seemed like it took forever for the zamboni water to freeze in the area in front of the net the Devils attack twice. I know they've been having problems with the computer that's supposed to regulate everything, but I was kinda hoping that would be fixed by now. Any word on the progress with that?